vertébré

Forms

vertébré m (plural vertébrés)^[1] Also an adjective: feminine vertébrée.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French vertèbre + -é.^[3][2][4] Littré instead derives it from Latin vertebrātus, an adjective formed on the same Latin noun.^[5] The noun, recorded since 1534, is from Latin vertebra (“vertebra”).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first recorded in 1800, in the Bulletin des sciences of the Société philomatique, of animals that have vertebrae.^[3][7][8]

Semantic evolution

The plural noun les vertébrés appears in Cuvier's comparative anatomy in 1805 and in Lamarck in 1806.^[3][8][4] With its opposite, the animals without vertebrae, it became one of the two great divisions in the classification of animals set up by Cuvier and Lamarck, a concept contemporary with that of biology.^[8]

In the 20th century it came to be used figuratively in literary language for “well structured”, of a novel, for instance.^[8][3]

Timeline

• 1534 – Vertèbre is recorded.^[6]
• 1800 – The adjective appears in the Bulletin des sciences.^[3]
• 1805 – Cuvier uses the plural noun vertébrés.^[3][8]
• 1806 – Lamarck uses vertébrés.^[7][8]
• 20th century – The figurative sense “well structured” appears.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (zoology) Having vertebrae, a skeleton.^[4][3][5]
2. (figurative) Well structured: une thèse bien vertébrée.^[3][8]

Noun

1. (zoology, in the plural) The vertebrates: the animals with a spinal column of bony or cartilaginous vertebrae, comprising fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.^[4][3][7]

Word family

• invertébré

Related words

• vertèbre
• vertébral
• Latin vertebra

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 317b
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert